House of Lords Youth Unemployment Committee have launched their much anticipated “Skills for Every Young People” report. You can read the full report here.
Youth unemployment has long blighted our society. There are huge imbalances between skills the country needs and those our young people leave school with. Further education has lost out on funding despite its vital role in our education system, and apprenticeships for young people are on the decline. On top of this, challenges for disadvantaged groups continue to persist.
The pandemic hit young people hard. Many saw two years of disruption to their education, training and social development, and more than two thirds of job losses were amongst the under-25s. Some groups, like those working in hospitality or young black people, saw unemployment skyrocket.
Today, 475,000 young people are unemployed and 84,000 of them have been looking for work for a year or more. Almost 1 in 10 young people are not in education, work or training. There are big inequalities in employment rates for people from disadvantaged or ethnic minority backgrounds.
No two young people are the same, and they all deserve equal support to prepare them for work, whether their pathway includes a traineeship, apprenticeship, Kickstart placement, T or A Levels, GCSEs, BTECs or university degree.
To create this report, they spoke to government ministers, experts, charities and businesses. They also spoke to many young people from across the country, from the East Midlands to Bolton and Lancashire, as well as young people from ethnic minority backgrounds in and near London.
Summary
- There is a mismatch between the skills young people develop in school and college today and those the future economy will need
- Careers guidance is not properly preparing young people for the jobs market, while a decline in work experience means they don’t know what skills they need to be successful
- Past and present governments have underfunded and undervalued Further Education in comparison to the university route
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There are not enough apprenticeship opportunities for young people
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Young people who are disadvantaged are still not receiving the support they need
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There is an absence of coordination at the top of government
Recommendations
A : Creating a long-term national plan for identifying, measuring and addressing skills mismatches
The plan must focus on anticipating and meeting the needs of the future economy, with a focus on digital and green sectors. It should be updated annually to reflect how quickly needs change.
B : Recalibrating the compulsory components of the national curriculum and performance measures
The national curriculum and the progress measures the government has set should always place skills shortages at their core so that they equip young people with essential knowledge and the technical, cultural and creative skills the economy demands.
C : Devising a new way of funding Further Education
The new method should be determined by student demand and ensure students have access to automatic in-year funding set by a tariff. This would ensure there is a place for any suitable young person who wants one and bring in extra resources for colleges to compete with higher education providers.
D : Reforming the apprenticeship levy so that it is more focused on young people
Any employer receiving funding from the levy must spend at least two thirds of it on young people starting apprenticeships at levels 2 and 3 before the age of 25.
E : Launching an Education and Workplace Race Equality Strategy
The strategy must focus on removing barriers to work for young people from BAME backgrounds given the disproportionate impact COVID-19 had on them. It must include a robust plan for data collection and publication on these groups, and be intersectional with socio-economic background, gender, sexual orientation, disability and migration status.
F : Ensuring disadvantaged young people have access to quality careers guidance
Guidance for the most disadvantaged must be tailored, delivered on a one-to-one basis and assessed by Ofsted.
G : Appointing an independent Young People’s Commissioner for people aged 16 to 24
The Commissioner should have responsibility for youth employment, education and skills. They should interrogate government policy and be the voice of young people, reporting annually to Parliament.
